Change-over mechanism for fluidflow systems



Sept. 7', 1948. P, g, THOMAS 2,448,933

CHANGE-OVER MECHANISM FOR FLnUIlJ-FLOW SYSTEMS Filed Jan. 20, 194'! 4Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 7, 1948. P, THOMAS 2,448,933

CHANGE-OVER MECHANISM FOR FLUID-FLOW SYSTEMS Filed Jan. 20, 1947 Y 4Sheets-Sheet 2 P. E. THOMAS 2,448,933

CHANGE-OVER MECHANISM FOR FLUID"FLOW SYSTEMS Sept. 1, 1948,.

4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 20, 1947 P 1948. P. E.ITH OMAS 2,448,933

cHANeE-ovEk MECHANISM FOR FLUID-FLOW SYSTEMS Filed Jan. 20, 19474.Sheets-Sheet 4 k IE? ve for TE T/mmas Patented Sept. 7, 1948 omen-ovenMECHANISM FOR FLUID- rnow SYSTEMS Percival Edward Thomas, London,England, as-

signor to Sterling Industries Limited, London;

Application January 20, 1947, SerialNoQ 7122mm InGre'at Britain February5, 1946 Claims. (o1; 284-1 This invention relates to, change-overmechanism for multiple fluid flow systems.

At the present time, when a source or sources of fluid supply haverepeatedly to be connected to and disconnected from difierent points (i.e., changed-over) is is customary to provide control valves which areopened; and closed according to requirements; in some kinds ofindustrial plant, the number of valves maybe large and the possibilityof mistake in their manipulation is proportionally high and may Wellhappenthat an industrial process under Connor may be ruined or damagedby an incorrect manipulation of the valves; moreover, as when somevalves are required to be opened whenothers are required to be closed,incorrect manipulation may result in loss ofthe fluid under control. 3

Nowaccording to the present invention, terminals of the lines (9. g.,-pipes} of asystem are equipped with self-closing valve arrangements anda selector component (oranumber' ofsuch components) is provided tointerconnect the selected lines, the selector component being so formedas when presented to the lines to open automatically the self-closingvalve-and in" most cases to form part of the line. i

In general the terminal of all or the lines would be provided with aself-closing valve as also would the terminalsof-' the selector com-.ponents although in some cases it may be necessary to provide'thevalves only onthe terminals of upstream lines.

It will be evident that: the movement of the selector component awayfrom aline results in the automatic closing of that line by the self--closing valves with the avoidancevo't loss of the controlled fluid;moreover; the selector component would be so arranged and controlled inits movement that only certain-pre-determined lines can beinterconnected and" thus it is rendered impossi-blefor incorrect fluidsupply coni nections to be made.

i It is obvious that it is necessary. to effect relative'movementbetween the line terminals and the selector components toenablethese'latter to be selectively brought into register" withselected terminals before the selector components are presentect tothose terminals to establish the desired connection; -In-v most cases:it is preferred to mount the selector components for this movement andthis can be effected by carrying the components on a carriage which ismovable between the terminals of the lines to be intercom nected, theseterminals being carriedby a frame in which the carriage is mounted.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure 1 is a longitudfnall section elevation and Figure 2 anend'elevation looking from the line IIII Figure 1, these two figuresillustrating one arrangement white Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectionalelevation on the line III-III Figure 4, and Figure 4 anfend elevationlooking from the line IV-IV Figure 3 of a modified arrangement.

' Referring firstly to Figures 1 and 2; a series of pipe lines Iterminate at self-closing valves lni'li. cated generally at 2, the pipelines shown at! forming for example supply and return pipes 'to anindustrial plant. The valves are disposed in a circle and mounted forrotation about the axis of this circle is a carriages having selectorpipes 4 5, the terminating ends of which are equipped withself-closingvalves generally indicated ati. The valves 6' are disposedto co-operate with the valves 2 as both to be opened when a valve 2 anda valve 6 are presented to one another and to effect this operation, thecarriage 3 in addition to being rotatable is also movable endwise.

To eifect these movements of the carriage 3,;it, is rotatably supportedon a carrierring compris ing'two parts 1', 8 slidably supported on acentral hub 8 secured to a back plate 9 carrying the pipe terminalvalves 2', the carriage 3 being held.

Secured directly to the carriage is a spoked frame l-Oiwhich isrotatable on a central spindle H and is connected to a selector handlever I2 the spindle is itself screw threaded at l3 to engage a screwedaperture in the carrier ring I, and: the spindle has at its forward endan operating; hand wheel I3.

The rotation of the hand.- wheel 13 causes,-

through the screw thread l3, endwise movement of the carrier ring. I, 8:and hence of the carriage 3 which is rotatably carried: by that ring;this results in moving the valve parts 6 into and out of engagement withthe. valve parts 2.

Operation of the hand lever t2 results; in turning the carriage 3 aboutthe axis of the pipes and s0 enabling the ,pairs of valves 6 at theextremh ties of the pipes 5 to be moved intoregister with differentpairs of valves 2.. Thus by manipulation of the handwheel l3 and of thehand. lever l2- it is possible to select two difierent pairs of pipes I:and to connect the pipes of those pairs toone another through theselector pipes l, 5; the act of connection being'achieved automaticallyby presenting the ends of the selector pipes 4;; 5. to the ends of theselected pipes l. Conversely, the act of disconnection is. effected bythe self closing action of the valves 2 and 6 by the act of moving theselector pipes away from the pipes I.

To afford an indication of the setting of the carriage 3 in relation tothe ring of pipes I, the hand lever I2 is extended to provide anindicator I5 movable over a fixed indicator plate It; a spring pressedregister ball I6 is also employed to snap into notches in the carriage 3to register that carriage in the selected angular positions. In orderalso to ailord an automatic indication whether the valves 6 of theselector pipes 5 are in or out of coupling engagement with the valves 2of the pipes I, there is provided an indicator finger I! carried by anarm I8 pivoted on a bracket I9 on the back plate 9 and the arm I8 isextended to engage between shoulders on.

a rod 2| secured to the carrier ring I, 8; when the carrier ring iscaused to move endwise by the rotation of the hand Wheel I 3', the rod2I is similarly moved and this in turn rocks the indicator pointer I! soas by its position up or down to indicate the relationship of the valves2 and 6. The rod 2| can form one of a series .of such rods which aiTordadditional sliding support for the carrier ring I, 8 and the carriage 3and parts carried thereby, the rods being slidable in the back plate 9.

The hub 8 forms a support for the shaft I I an extension II of whichextends through the hub and extends into a casing 2| housing a thrustbearing to absorb the axial reaction on the spindle II, I I;

In the arrangement shown in Figures 1 and 2, the act of selection isaccomplished by the rotation of the carriage 3 and the connection anddisconnection by endwise movement of the carriage. In the modificationshown in Figures 3 and 4, the selection is efiected by endwise movementof the carriage which movement also effects connection anddisconnection. Referring now to Figures 3 and 4, in which the partscorresponding to the parts of Figures 1 and 2 are given similarreferences, a plurality of the pipe lines I and their self-closingvalves 2 are disposed at each side of the carriage 3 which itself isprovided at each side with a plurality of self-closing valves 4 and witha plurality of selector ducts 5 the two ends of which terminate in thevalves 4 and each of which is open to a pipe 22.

In this construction the carriage 3 is slidable on guide rods 23 securedat their ends in the end plates 24, of a fixed frame supporting thepipes I and their valves 2. The carriage 3 is provided with a centralboss which is screw-threaded to engage a screw thread 26 on a rod 21 towhich a hand wheel corresponding to the hand wheel I3 is secured, thisrod being rotatably supported in bearings in the end plates 24.

It will be clear that by rotating the hand wheel I3 in one direction,the carriage 3 is caused to slide in one direction so that theself-closing valves 6 at one side of the carriage can co-operate withthe self-closing valves 2 on one end plate 24 and so establishconnection between the pipes 22 on the one hand and one set of pipes Ion the other hand. By rotating the hand wheel I3 in the other direction,the valves 6 at the other side of the carriage 3 can be brought intoco-operation with the valves 2 at the other end plate and so establishconnection between the pipes 22 and that other set of pipes I thusefiecting the required selection.

The setting of the carriage 3 is indicated in this case by a pointer 25pivoted at 26 and cou- 4 pled by a link 21 to a bracket 28 on thecarriage 3.

In both arrangements there is obviously an intermediate position inwhich no connection is established between on the one hand theselfclosing valves 2 and on the other hand the selfclosing valves 6. Inthe arrangement of Figures 1 and 2, this position occurs when the handwheel I 3 has been rotated to retract the carriage 3 to move the valves6 clear of the valves 2; in the arrangement of Figures 3 and 4 theposition occurs when the hand wheel I3 is turned to bring the carriage 3to the mid-position shown in Figure 3, at which time the pointer 25 willbe at its mid-position.

Obviously other combinations of movements can be utilised to effectselection and connection and disconnection. Thus, in a furtherarrangement, the carriage 3 can be rotatable and the valved terminals ofcertain lines I are arranged in a circle about the axis of rotation ofthe carriage and at one side of the carriage while the valved terminalsof other lines I are similarly grouped in a circle at the other side ofthe carriage, the movement of the carriage bringing the selectorcomponents into register with the selected opposed line terminals. Forthe purpose of presenting the selector components to the desired valvedterminals a further or endwise relative movement is imparted to thecarriage to cause the valves 2 of the selected terminals to be opened bythe selector components when they are presented.

It will now be seen that the whole equipment can be set up in suchmanner as to render it possible to make only certain selectedconnections so that the element of risk arising from incorrectconnections is eliminated. The precise grouping would of course bevaried to suit the requirements in any particular case.

The ends of the selector components themselves being usually formed withself-closing valves, as also are the ends of the pipes I, it will beevident that there is substantially no loss of controlled fluid when achange-over is effected and for these valves it is preferred to employthe arrangement of self-closing valve described and claimed in theapplication Serial No. 592,563, now Patent No, 2,416,967, such valvesbeing shown in the drawings.

Obviously in complicated pipe line systems certain of the selectors canbe compounded (i. e., interconnected) provided always that the terminalsof the selectors are so disposed that they can only be presented to therequisite lines.

' What I claim is: I

1. A fluid flow change over device comprising a pluralityof supports onecarrying at least one self-closing valve terminating a fluid flow lineand the other carrying a plurality of self-closing valves terminatingrespectively different flow lines and means to move the supportsrelatively to one another to bring the self-closing valves respectivelyon them selectively into opening fluid flow co-operation.

2. A fluid-flow change-over device comprising a plurality of supports,a, plurality of self-closing valves grouped on one support, a pluralityof sets of similarly grouped self-closing valves on the other support,the valves terminating fluid flow lines, and means to move the supportsrelatively to one another to bring a group of self-closing valves on onesupport and a group on the other support selectively into openingfluid-flow cooperation.

3. A fluid-flow change-over device comprising a plurality of supportsone having a plurality of self-closing valve devices to close acorresponding plurality of flow lines and the other having a pluralityof flow lines each terminating at each extremity with a self-closingvalve, and means to move the supports relatively to one another to bringselected self-closing valve devices on the two supports selectively intoopening flow co-operation.

4. A fluid flow change-over device comprising a stationary componentcarrying a plurality of self-closing valve devices terminating differentflow lines, the said devices being disposed in arcuate fashion, amovable component having at least one fluid-flow conduit having aself-closing valve at each extremity, and means to move the movablecomponent upon the axis of the arc to bring its valve into opening fluidflow co-operation with selected valves on the stationary component.

5. A fluid flow change-over device comprising a, first componentcarrying a plurality of selfclosing valves, a second component carryinga plurality of self-closing valves disposed between those of the firstcomponent and means to move the two components relatively to one anotherto bring selected self-closing valves on the two components selectivelyinto opening flow co-operation.

6. A fluid-flow change-over device comprising a first component carryinga plurality of selfclosing valves, a, second component carrying aplurality of self-closing valves disposed between those of the firstcomponent means to move the two components angularly relatively to oneanother to bring selected self-closing valves on the two componentsselectively into flow co-operation, and means to move the componentsaxially relatively to one another to open selected valves.

'7. A fluid flow change over device comprising two components one havinga plurality of selfclosing valve devices and the other at least oneself-closing valve device, an operating member to move the twocomponents relatively to one another to bring valve devices on the twocomponents selectively into register and a, second operating member tomove the registered valve device into valve-opening co-operation.

8. A fluid-flow change over device comprising two components one havinga, plurality of selfclosing valve devices and the other at least oneself-closing valve device, an operating member to move the twocomponents relatively and angularly to one another to bring valvedevices on the two components selectively into register and a secondoperating member to move the registered valve device axially intovalve-opening co-operation.

9. A fluid-flow change-over device comprising a fixed support, aplurality of self-closing valve devices grouped in an are on saidsupport, the valve devices constituting terminals for difierent flowlines, a second support, means mounting the second support for angularmovement about the axis of the arc and also for bodily movement alongsaid axis, at least one fluid flow line on said second support, aself-closing valve at an extremity of the line and at a distance fromthe axis equal to the radius of the arc, a first operating member tomove the second support angularly to bring the valve thereon intoregister with a selected valve on the stationary support and a secondoperating member to move the second support axially to bring the valvethereon into opening co-operation with the selected valves.

10. A fluid flow change over device comprising a fixed supportcomprising end components supporting each at least one self-closingvalve terminating a fluid flow line, a second support having at leastone fluid-flow line terminating at each extremity in a self-closingvalve, means mounting the second support for movement between the endcomponents, and an operating member to move said second support to bringits self-closing valve selectively into opening fluidflow co-operationwith the valves on the end components.

PERCIVAL EDWARD THOMAS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 515,219 Harris Feb. 20, 18942,209,989 McCanna Aug. 6, 1940 2,209,993 McGill Aug. 6, 1940 2,309,890Fisher Feb. 2, 1943 2,364,697 Daniels Dec. 12, 1944

